April 14, 2022 4:24 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Federal water managers are scheduled to host a virtual meeting to share their annual operating plan for the Rio Grande, one of North America’s longest rivers. Irrigation districts from the Pacific Northwest to the Colorado River Basin already are warning farmers to expect less this year despite growing demands fueled by ever-drying conditions. Climate experts say March marked the third straight month of below-average precipitation across the U.S., and areas of record dryness are expanding in the West. The forecast for the next three months is no better. Along the Rio Grande, some farmers are being encouraged to forego irrigating their lands this season.
April 14, 2022 4:22 am
Hundreds of Russians are facing charges for speaking out against the war in Ukraine since a law was passed last month that criminalizes the spread of “false information” about the invasion and disparaging the military. Human rights groups say the crackdown has led to criminal prosecutions and possible prison sentences for at least 23 people, with over 500 others facing misdemeanor cases that have either led to hefty fines or are expected to result in them. The head of a legal aid group says the number of cases is unprecedentedly large. Among those facing charges was a priest who preached about the suffering of Ukrainians and a man who held up a sign with no words – just asterisks.
April 14, 2022 4:18 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Bills to ban drop boxes for depositing mail-in and absentee ballots as well as donations to run elections from outside groups are advancing in the Pennsylvania Legislature. The state Senate voted Wednesday to send both proposals to the House of Representatives. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is opposed to both measures. Republican opponents of drop boxes said they weren’t expressly authorized under the 2019 law that expanded mail-in voting for use by anyone. The other bill would make it a felony to pay election costs outside federal, state and local revenues from public money, or even to seek such grants or donations from outside groups.
April 14, 2022 2:50 am
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI)- Melvin Ringer was arrested on attempted homicide charges after a shooting outside of his Canton Township home Wednesday morning. Ringer, his wife and the victim had been drinking when police say his wife told him she wanted a divorce. Investigators say Ringer’s wife told him she was leaving him for the man they were drinking with at the time, and he demanded they both leave. Officers say as the victim was walking away with a case of beer Ringer shot him in the back. According to police paperwork, Ringer’s wife helped the victim into a vehicle to take him to the hospital. The vehicle’s back window was shot out. Ringer barricaded himself in the home, causing a situation that lasted for hours. The victim was taken to Washington Hospital where he’s in critical condition.
April 14, 2022 2:43 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – A woman was pulled from a burning home today in North Strabane Township after her home caught fire. Firefighter say the fire started in the kitchen of the home on Latimer Avenue. Debra Roach lives less than 100 feet from the home. She told our news partners at Channel-11 that she knows the family who lives in this home and said a prayer when she heard the woman in the home was trapped. Debra says she is thankful that the fire department is just down the road and got to the scene quickly. North Strabane fire chief Mark Grimm says his firefighters “forced the door in and got her out.” Grimm says the woman suffered injuries that included minor burns and was flown to a local hospital, where the woman’s husband told us she was being treated for those burns.
April 14, 2022 2:33 am
The City of Washington Police are looking for a missing juvenile. According to 9-1-1 officials 17 year old Jasmine Gillespie was last seen on April 11. She is described as being 4 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 100 pounds. She has maroon hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a black jogging suit. Police also indicate that she could be in the company of a Corey Daley. He is a white male standing six feet tall, weighing 300 pounds. City Police ask that if you do see them, do not approach them but call the police.
April 13, 2022 4:26 am
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – President Joe Biden says Russia’s war in Ukraine amounts to “genocide,” accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.” Speaking Tuesday in Iowa shortly before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden said he meant it when he said at an earlier event that Putin was carrying out genocide against Ukraine. “Yes, I called it genocide,” he told reporters. “It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian.” Biden added that it would be up to lawyers to decide if Russia’s conduct met the international standard for genocide, but said “it sure seems that way to me.”
April 13, 2022 4:24 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia is vowing to continue its bloody offensive in Ukraine as the war’s sixth week wraps up Wednesday. Vladimir Putin insisted the invasion was going according to plan despite a major withdrawal and significant losses. Thwarted in their push toward Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, Russian troops focused on the eastern Donbas region. Meantime, Ukraine is investigating a claim that a poisonous substance had been dropped on its troops there. It was not clear what the substance might be, but Western officials warned that any use of chemical weapons by Russia would be a serious escalation of the already devastating war.
April 13, 2022 4:22 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Police say the gunman in the Brooklyn subway shooting fired at least 33 bullets in the rush-hour train, wounding 10 people. Police are looking for a man who rented a van they believe might be connected to Tuesday’s shooting, although they haven’t established a definitive link. Chief of Detectives James Essig identified the man as 62-year-old Frank R. James and says James has addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin. Essig says a key to the rental van was found at the scene along with a semi-automatic handgun, a hatchet, smoke grenades and other items. Police have since found the van, empty.
April 13, 2022 4:20 am
UNDATED (AP) – The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia say they are headed for Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Twitter posts by the leaders on Wednesday showed them standing outside a Ukrainian railroad passenger car, but did not give details about the trip. “We are visiting Ukraine to show strong support to the Ukrainian people, will meet dear friend President Zelenskyy,” Estonian President Alar Karis said in his post. Polish President Andrzej Duda, Lithuania’s Gitanas Nauseda and Egils Levits of Latvia also are on the trip.
